Love Earnestly

                Black Friday has always been a special day to me because it marks the first day of the Christmas season. Every year on that day, my family would pull out all of our Christmas decorations and flood the house with Christmas music and now my husband and I carry on that tradition. Every year the news reports that, on Black Friday, sales are starting sooner and people are getting hurt because they were first in line for the latest and greatest doodad, and everyone reacts with disgust at society’s lack of concern for each other. I think in the midst of our disgust, we miss another major problem with this tradition in that we become very negative, judgmental, and full of gossip about “those people” who participate in Black Friday. The next time we face holiday shopping crowds, we expect someone to cut us off and push us out of the way so we start looking at all others as “the enemy.” As we do this more often, we lend ourselves to the creation of the society that we are disgusted with all because of our own negativity towards others.

                This morning we read from 1 Peter 1 and verses 22-23 really stood out to me. They are as follows: “By obedience to the truth, having purified yourselves for sincere love of the brothers, love one another earnestly from a pure  heart, since you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.”  When God’s word brings our attention to life, God is always more concerned with the people we interact with than the things we are surrounded with. Peter points out here that we were born again of things that will last and are now able to love one another earnestly. The kind of love that God has for us and teaches us to have for one another is a life changing love without boundaries or reservation.

                When I stop to think about God’s unrestricted love, it makes me want to do everything out of this love. How can I drive to the store in a way that demonstrates God’s love to the other drivers on the road? How can I open myself up to be warm and inviting to strangers I interact with over the holiday season? How can I demonstrate love without conditions to family members I will see very soon? How can I shift my heart from the harsh judgment of strangers in society to the mission of loving every person with the love that God freely gives?

                Dear Lord, help me to love with the love that You have placed in my heart. Help me to give Your love freely to those around me. Help me not to judge strangers but to focus on things that will last. Amen.